Emre Can
Emre Can (born 12 January 1994) is a German footballer of Turkish descent who played as a midfielder for Liverpool from 2014 to 2018. Liverpool career After the 2013-14 season ended, there were reports that Liverpool wanted to boost their midfield options with the addition of the promising German talent Emre Can. Also able to play anywhere along the left flank, Can primarily operates as a defensive midfielder. On 5 June 2014, Liverpool announced that they had agreed a deal in principle with Bayer Leverkusen for the transfer of Can, reported to be for a fee of around £9,750,000. On 3 July 2014, the deal was confirmed with Can signing a long term deal. It is thought Liverpool also had to negotiate with Bayern Munich to settle the buy-back clause the German giants had on the youngster. Club manager Brendan Rodgers spoke highly of Can, saying that "Emre is an exciting young talent and I'm delighted he's chosen Liverpool for the next phase of his development and growth as a player. He has recognised that we are a club that improves and nurtures exciting, ambitious players and I'm looking forward to seeing him take those next steps forward for us." Soon after signing, Can's popularity took an early boost as reports emerged on social media that he had donated £50,000 to the Alder Hey children's hospital in Liverpool. On 6 July 2014, Can announced on his official Facebook page that he will wear the number 23 shirt during his time at Anfield- the number famously associated with the recently retired Liverpool icon Jamie Carragher, with Can stating that it is an honour to wear Carragher's number. Can made his non-competitive debut for the Reds on 19 July 2014, starting Liverpool's 2-1 friendly win away to Preston. Can produced a series of impressive performances in Liverpool's 2014-15 pre-season before going on to make his competitive debut for the club as a second half substitute in their 3-1 away defeat to Manchester City on 25 August 2014. Injury forced Can to sit out a number of matches, however he returned to make his first competitive start for the Reds on 19 October 2014, playing 66 minutes in Liverpool's 3-2 away win over QPR. After being selected to play in Liverpool's Champions League clash against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu on 4 November 2014, in which Can produced an acclaimed display despite a 1-0 defeat, Can retained his place in the team for the Reds' Premier League clash at home to Chelsea on 8 November 2014. In the ninth minute, Can netted his first Liverpool goal with a long range strike that deflected in off of Chelsea centre back Gary Cahill. Liverpool however went on to lose the match 2-1. Despite his performance against Chelsea, Can subsequently struggled for game time. He made a rare appearance on 17 December 2014, coming on as a substitute in Liverpool's 3-1 away win over Bournemouth in the League Cup. On 26 December 2014, Can came on as a second half substitute as part of a back three, and performed well in his new defensive role as the Reds beat Burnley 1-0. Rodgers praised the performance of Can and suggested his influence in the team would "grow" as the season progressed. Can retained his place in Liverpool's defensive over the winter period, and garnered much praise for his performances. On 4 February 2015, Can's performance in Liverpool's 2-1 win away to Bolton in the FA Cup was met with wide acclaim. With Liverpool 1-0 down and facing elimination, Can moved into a more advanced role and was influential, notably lofting a ball over the top of the entire Bolton defence to put Raheem Sterling one-on-one with the goalkeeper to level the tie. Can also saw a fierce long range strike tipped onto the crossbar by the fingertips of the keeper. On 4 April 2015, Can was sent off for two bookable offences in a 4-1 defeat at Arsenal. Can began the 2015-16 season on the bench, only coming on as a substitute in the opening two games. He made his first start of the season on 24 August 2015, playing in the centre of midfield away to Arsenal, and putting in a decent performance. On 23 September, Can scored a paneka penalty in the League Cup shootout against Carlisle, with the Reds coming out as winners. A week later, Can made his 50th appearance for the club, starting at centre back in a 1-1 draw at home to Sion. On 22 October 2015, Can started in midfield in fellow German Jurgen Klopp's first home game in charge of the club, a 1-1 draw with Rubin Kazan. Can scored the equaliser, poking home after Divock Origi headed down to him inside the box. On 21 November 2015, Can made a very impressive performance in a 4-1 win at Man City. The German made a very good backheel pass into the box, allowing Philippe Coutinho to square it to Roberto Firmino, who netted the Reds' 3rd goal of the game. In a 6-1 win over Southampton on 2 December, Can assisted Daniel Sturridge with a lovely curved ball over the top, allowing the striker to tap it in and give the Reds the lead. On 14 February 2016, Can scored his first Premier League goal in over a year, smashing it in from 20 yards to give Liverpool a 3-0 lead in an eventual 6-0 win at Aston Villa. On 14 April 2016, Can assisted Divock Origi's goal with a lovely through ball to get the Reds a goal back while 2-0 down at home to Borussia Dortmund. The Reds fought back from the deficit and prevailed 4-3, but Can picked up quite a serious injury, and many reports ruled him out for the rest of the season. Just three weeks later however, Can made a miraculous recovery, and played the full 90 minutes in a 3-0 win over Villarreal, sending the Reds to the 2016 Europa League Final. The German put in a stellar performance, and was regarded by many fans as the man of the match. A week later, Can was awarded Liverpool's Young Player of the Year award. On 29 October 2016, Can scored his first goal of the season, a strike from inside the area that took a deflection past the goalkeeper to give the Reds the lead in a 4-2 win at Crystal Palace. A week later, Can scored for the second game running, heading in from close range to score Liverpool's third in a 6-1 win over Watford. On 19 November 2016, Can made his 100th appearance for the club, starting in a 0-0 draw at Southampton. On 4 December 2016, Can scored his third goal of the season, firing into the top corner from the edge of the area in a 4-3 defeat at Bournemouth. The German also assisted Sadio Mane's opening goal with a long ball. After facing a lot of criticism in previous weeks, with a couple of poor performances during a run of poor form for Liverpool, Can scored the winning goal with a perfectly placed long range strike to give the Reds a 2-1 win over Burnley. On 1 May 2017, Can made arguably his most important contribution in a Red shirt so far. Lucas dinked an over the top ball to the edge of the box, allowing Can to score a sublime overhead kick into the top corner, which proved to be the winner away to Watford, keeping Liverpool ahead in the race for Champions League qualification. Can began the 2017-18 season as a starter in the Liverpool midfield, and assisted Sadio Mane for the Reds' first goal of the season. On 23 August 2017, Can scored twice in the second leg of a Champions League playoff against Hoffenheim, in an eventual 4-2 win. The first was a powerful strike from the edge of the box that was deflected past the keeper, while the second was to cap off a wonderfully worked Liverpool move. Can also had a chance to score his hattrick but his curling effort span just around the far post. Four days later Can put in another dominating performance from midfield in a 4-0 win over Arsenal. On 24 February 2018, Can scored his sixth goal of the season, heading in from a Mohamed Salah corner, to open the scoring in a 4-1 win over West Ham. Can also assisted Roberto Firmino’s effort in this game. On 17 March, Can suffered an injury to his back, that kept him out for two months. Can made his final appearance for Liverpool as a late substitute in a 3-1 defeat in the Champions League final. On 8 June 2018 it was confirmed that after a long saga, Can would be leaving the club upon the end of his contract. Can made 167 appearances for the club, scoring 14 goals. Honours Individual *Liverpool Young Player of the Year: 1 (2015-16) *Liverpool Goal of the Season: 1 (2016-17: vs. Watford 1 May 2017) *BBC Goal of the Season: 1 (2017) Stats Category:Former Players Category:Midfielders